Jig



April 1937: l. B. HUMPHREYS 2,078,605

JIG

Filed Aug. 27, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet l April 27, 1937.

l. B. HUMPHREYS 78,605

JIG

Filed Aug. 27. 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 f fir/(a4, I;

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I511 I un attomwap April 1937- v I. B. HUMPHREYS 2,078,6 05

JIG

Filed Aug. 27, 1934 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 3mm 8). WMN QVQQTQQ Patented Apr. 27, 1937 UNlTED STATES ATENT FFICE 10 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in jigs and is directed more particularly to a jig of the pulsating type used as a concentrator in connection with mining operations.

The primary object of the invention is the provision of an improved jig.

A further object of the invention is the provision of an improved jig of the pulsating type wherein the entire hutch is moved up and down during the jig operation.

Another and further object of the invention is the provision of a jig of circular form wherein the tailings are discharged throughout the entire peripheral edge of the jig and are assisted in their movement to discharge by a series of paddles with the result that the feed to the jig and the movement of the material upon the jig table is greatly improved.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a jig which accomplishes a much better separation in a greatly improved manner.

Other specific objects and novel features of construction such as lower power consumption in the operation of the jig, slower flow of water over the jig bed in proportion to the quantity of gravel or other material fed to the jig, etc., will appear from the following description when read in the light of the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a view partly in vertical section and partly in elevation of the improved jig.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the jig table.

Fig. 3 is a view in side elevation of the jig.

Fig. 4 is a detail vertical sectional view illustrating the connection between the jig table screen and the cone.

Jig tables are for the most part of rectangular shape in plan view and the gravel or pulp is fed at one side of the table and the tailings are discharged over the opposite side. Ordinarily a large volume of water is introduced beneath the screen comprising the table and this water in combination with the crowding action of the feed constitutes the only means for moving the tailings to their point of discharge.

In the present improved jig the gravel or pulp is preferably introduced with water from a point above the jig and is fed centrally to the jig screen. The material can however be fed in a dry state and all water could be'introduced from beneath the bed or the water could be added to the bed from above but independent of the material feed. Some additional water may be introduced from below the jig screen for the purpose of creating an upward flow of water through the jig screen to prevent too much fine silica or other light material from dropping down through the jig bed. Introduction of water from beneath the jig screen is a customary jig practice. In the present device the material being worked upon moves outwardly 5 from the center table screen towards its peripheral edge with the result that tailings are discharged throughout the whole circumferential edge of the table. A trough or launder extends throughout the entire length or circumference of the jig table outer edge for receiving the tailings.

It has been found that when the same volume of water is used on this improved circular table as is used in connection with the customary rectangular jig the material on this improved table moves or flows to discharge at a far lesser speed than it does on a rectangular table. This reduction in speed of flow of the water permits fine gold and other particles of highest specific gravity to settle down to the jig bed. A series of paddles rotate in a horizontal plane above the jig screen and are utilized to move or assist the movement of the gravel outwardly from the center of the table towards its discharge edge in order to increase the capacity of the jig. It has been found that if this mechanical movement of the material fed to the table is not used, the feed, if it be too rapid would so crowd the jig bed that it would not be of even depth throughout the area of the table but would be too shallow at the center of the table and increasingly deeper towards the discharge edge of the table. This undesirable condition would limit the feed capacity as is the case in respect to jigs now ordinarily made to such a quantity of feed as would not disturb the even level of the jig bed.

The paddles or scrapers utilized to move the material towards the discharge edge are revolved comparatively slowly, five to ten revolutions per minute having been found to be a satisfactory speed. The scrapers or paddles can be adjusted as to position in respect to the jig screen so as to maintain the material on the screen at any desired even depth so that there will be no uneven depth of feed to crowd the bed material. This permits the jig to be fed as fast as the jig can extract the concentrates satisfactorily.

A pulsation of the material upon the jig screen is caused by vertical movement of a cone which is positioned beneath the jig screen and in combination with the screen forms a chamber beneath the jig table. The particular construction utilized in performing the pulsating action will be hereinafter described but at this point it is desired to direct attention to the fact that the construction is such as to give a uniform pulsating action over the entire jig screen area. This is a decided advantage over jigs as now known and in use as in them there are different velocities at difierent points on the screen and different pulsating actions on different points of the screen by reason of the fact that heretofore the water has been pulsated from a separate plunger compartment or by a diaphragm or plunger which is of a different size or shape than the jig screen.

In actual practice my jig has been found to be superior to those now to me known and in use, in that in the average jig the capacity depends largely on the crowding action of the feed, which, if fed too fast disturbs the even level of the material forming the jig bed and thus causes an or paddles maintain an even distribution of material throughout the screen area and the pulsating mechanism is such as to cause a uniform pulsating action throughout the entire screen area,

Having compared my improved jig with those now known and in use, reference will now be made to the drawings in describing the construction which enables me to accomplish the improved results heretofore referred to.

A band or ring I of circular form carries a series of screen elements A to L inclusive and as clearly appears in Figure 2 of the drawings these screen sections completely close the opening of the ring to form a circular jig screen. The screen is made up'of a series of sections so as to enable them to be quickly and easily lifted from the ring and be replaced with new sections ofbedding material while the tray or screen sections which are removed are being cleaned out by separating the bedding material from the concentrates which it is desired to save. The screen section L is of circular form while the screen sections A to K inclusive extend radially out from it. The circular screen section L is provided at its peripheral edge with an upstanding flanged wall 2 to act as a trap for the larger nuggets present in the mate' rial fed to the screen. This section of the screen is centrally provided with a feed receiving pan or cup 3 and the material fed into this pan overflows onto the jig table or screen.

The screen sections are placed within the air-- cular band or ring I. To this ring I at its upper edge is attached a band or hoop clamp I05, which may be loosened or tightened by means of the ear and bolt I06. This band may be raised or lowered to adjust the depth of material and water above the foraminous jig bottom with the result that the screen will accommodate material to a substantial depth and with the further result that the upper edge of the band I05 constitutes the peripheral tailings discharge of the table. The ring I and above it the band I05 forms one of the walls of the launder or trough 5, which completely encircles the ring at its outer side. To assure that the tailings discharge will all flow to the launder outlet 6 the launder is provided with a high point I from which it inclines or slants downwardly in both directions about the ring to its outlet 6.

A series of legs I suitably braced at their lower ends as at 8 and further braced by the members 9 and 9 constitutes the support for the jig screen carrying ring I.

A cone I fits within the lower end of the ring I to form a chamber beneath the jig screen. By reference to Figure 4 of the drawings it will be seen that the ring I at its inner side is provided with an inwardly extending flange II and that the upper end of the cone II] is provided with a flange I2 and that the flange II of the ring and the flange I2 of the cone are interconnected by a rubber diaphragm I3. This connection I3 is referred to as a rubber diaphragm but it is to be understood that any suitable flexible material could be aptly utilized. It is only necessary that the connection between the upper end of the cone and the ring I be such as to permit upward and downward movement of the cone in respect to the ring so as to cause a pulsation of water through the jig screen bed. In operation the cone becomes filled with water and upward and downward movement of the cone will cause a pulsation or a lifting and lowering of the entire bed of material supported upon the jig screen sections.

A suitable framework I4 supports a bearing I01 upon which rests a pipe spacer I5 upon the upper end of which rests a gear wheel I6 which has driving connection with a worm wheel I1 carried by the horizontally disposed drive shaft I8 which can be driven by any suitable power means. Above the gear I6 is a second pipe spacer I II]. A spider shaft I9 passes through the gear I6 and has sliding driving connection with said gear through the instrumentality of an elongated keyway thereby making it possible to raise and lower the spider shaft. I

The lower end of the spider shaft is reduced as at 2B and has driving connection with a spider 2I which in turn supports a funnel 22 the lower end 23 of which is positioned just above the jig table feed pan 3.

Four arms 24 are carried by the funnel and rotatable therewith as the spider is rotated. These arms are radially disposed in respect to the funnel and horizontally disposed above the jig screen. Each arm carries a series of paddles or scrapers 25 each of which is provided with a vertically disposed handle or shaft 26 by means of which the paddles are adjustably clamped to the arms 24 by a suitable clamp 27. By reference to Figure 2 of the drawings it will be seen that the paddles or scrapers 25 are angularly disposed in respect to their supporting arms 24 with the result that as the arms are rotated the paddles will move the material on the jig screen in a direction towards the tailings discharge edge 4 of the table, as has been previously described.

The upper end of the spider shaft passes outwardly beyond the top 28 of the shaft supporting frame M and is surrounded by a hand wheel stand 29. The upper end of the spider shaft beyond the hand wheel stand is threaded as at 353 and is provided with a lock nut 3i Whichis positioned above the hand Wheel 32. By manipe ulation of the hand wheel thespider shaft can be raised and lowered within the hollow drive shaft i5 thus affording a vertical adjustment of the paddles or scrapers 25 in respect to the jig screen and further affording means to lift not only the paddles but also -the funnel and the spider so as to permit the removal of the different sections making up the jig screen.

The pulsation of the cone II] is accomplished by a pair of beams 33 and 34 which are arranged in the same horizontal plane but at an acute angle to one another. The outer divergent ends of these beams are pivotally supported upon a shaft 35 while their opposite and adjacent ends are connected by a shaft 36 which has connection by means of a link 31 with an eccentric crank 38 carried upon and having driving connection with the'shaft 39. The shaft 39 can be driven by means of any suitable power mechanism (not shown) and if it be found desirable the same motive power can be used for rotating the shaft 39 as .is utilized for driving the worm shaft l8.

The beams 33 and 34 carry a ring 40 which is welded to and encircles the lower pointed end ii of the cone to provide a driving and supporting connection for the cone. This ring 40 is attached to beams 33 and 34 through hinge I08, one member of which is bolted to the beams and the other to the ring.

I have illustrated a coil spring 42 as having its upper end connected to a suitable fixed portion 43 of the jig supporting frame and its lower end connected as at 44 to the cone actuating beams 33 and 34. This spring is not a necessity but its presence tends to take the weight of the cone and the water therein from the eccentric and thus relieves downward pressure on the eccentric. When this spring is utilized power con sumption on the eccentric shaft will be reduced to some extent since the weight of the cone and its contents tends to swing the eccentric part way around its up-stroke.

From the foregoing it will be seen that due to making the jig screen of a circular form and utilizing its entire peripheral edge as a tailings discharge, an unusually long discharge edge is obtained in comparison with the area of the screen. This reduces the speed of travel of the water towards the tailings discharge with a resultant advantage that the particles of heavy specific gravity are given a greater opportunity to settle down through the jig bed as the bed is loosened during its upward pulsation. In other words, the settling action is not interrupted or disturbed by a too rapid horizontal movement of the material caused by a too rapid flow of water and crowding of material towards the discharge edge of the screen.

Furthermore by providing the scrapers the capacity of the table is increased and its operation improved due to the fact that the scrapers assure an even depth of material throughout the entire area of the screen. This uniformly even bed taken in conjunction with the uniform pulsating action due to the fact that the pulsating cone is of approximately the same area at its upper end as the area of the screen produces a jig which is highly efficient in operation and results.

By adjusting the scrapers and regulating the speed of rotation of the scrapers and the speed of pulsation of the cone it will be readily apparent that the table can be easily tuned to accomplish the best possible results.

Although I have described that the gravel or pulp is introduced to the jig as a mixture with water, it is to be understood that this is not necessary as the material to be operated upon could be fed to the jig table in a dry state and all the water introduced through the hutch by means of a water inlet connection such as at I02 in the cone. It would be possible also to introduce the material dry and to introduce the water separately to the jig bottom from the upper side thereof.

It should also be understood that the present machine is not limited in its operation to placer mining but that the machine can be used for the cleaning and separating of any two or more materials having different specific gravities.

Neither is it necessary to furnish an entire series of scrapers as the machine could be operated with a single scraper, as will be readily understood. 4

I claim:

1. An improved concentrator of the pulsating jig type, comprising a stationary jig table having a circular foraminous bottom, a feed pan centrally located on said jig bottom, a feedfor delivering a mixture of ore and water to said ieed pan, a series of arms mounted for rotation in a horizontal plane above said jig bottom and carrying a plurality of scrapers having blades disposed at an angle to their direction of movement for moving material on the jig bottom towards the peripheral edge of said bottom, a chamber beneath said bottom and having its upper end yieldably connected to said jig table, the upper end of said chamber being of a diameter substantially that of the foraminous jig bottom, and means to periodically move said chamber upwardly and downwardly in respect to said jig bottom, for the purpose described.

2. An improved concentrator of the pulsating jig type, comprising a support, a foraminous jig bottom carried by said support, a conical chamber positioned beneath said jig bottom and having an upper large open end resiliently connected to said jig table at a point beneath its foraminous bottom, pivotally mounted beams engaging the lower smaller end of said cone, an eccentric for rocking said beams and raising and lowering said cone in respect to the jig bottom, a feed pan centrally located on said jig bottom, a vertically disposed shaft carrying a feed hopper at its lower end disposed for discharging a mixture of ore and water into said feed pan, a series of arms carried 1 the parts operating as and for the purpose described.

3. An improved concentrator, comprising a framework, a ring mounted on said framework and supporting and enclosing a pervious closure constituting a table for the reception of a mixture of ore and water, a feed pan centrally arranged on said pervious table, a shaft vertically disposed above said feed pan carrying a hopper having its discharge positioned above the feed pan of the table, a series of arms radiating from said hopper and horizontally disposed above said table, a series of scrapers carried by said arms and vertically adjustable thereon, said scrapers having their blades arranged at an angle to their carrying arms and adapted to engage material being worked upon the deck, means to rotate said shaft for rotating said scraper arms, a pulsating chamber positioned beneath the bed and having a yieldable connection with the bed supporting ring, said pulsator having an open upper end of an area substantially the same as the area of the bed, a pivotally mounted beam engaging said pulsator, a drive shaft, and an eccentric interconnecting said drive shaft and said beam for imparting a rocking motion to the beam and a vertical reciprocation to the pulsator, for the purpose described.

4. A construction such as defined in claim 3, wherein there is a coil spring interconnecting the pulsator actuating beam and a fixed support for supporting the weight ofthe pulsator chamber and its contents. a

5. An improved concentrator, comprising a stationary circular table having a foraminous bottom and a continuous peripheral tailings discharge edge, a feed for delivering a mixture of ore and water centrally to said bed, a conical chamber having its large end open and of a diameter approximately the same as the diameter of the bed, said chamber having its large open end yieldably connected to said table below said bed to form a pulsator, means to reciprocate the said chamber in respect tothe stationary table and its stationary pervious bed, and means for mechanically maintaining an even depth of material upon the bed and for imparting a movement of the material from the center of the bed towards its peripheral tailings discharge edge.

6. A structure such as defined in claim 5, wherein the means for mechanically maintaining an even depth of material upon the bed and for imparting a movement of said material towards the tailings discharge edge of the bed, comprises a series'of scrapers rotatable in a horizontal plane .above the bed and having their blades arranged at an angle to their direction of movement.

7. An improved concentrator of the pulsating jig type, comprising a fixed foraminous jig table, a chamber positioned beneath said jig table and having an open upper end resiliently connected to said table, means for periodically raising and lowering said chamber in respect to the jig table, a feed for said table, a vertically disposed shaft, a series of arms operat-ably connected to said shaft and radially disposed in respect thereto for horizontalrotation above said jig table, means for rotating said shaft, a series of scrapers carried by said arms for engaging the material on said table and moving the same outwardly towards the peripheral edge of said table to discharge, means for raising and lowering said shaft, and said scrapers being vertically adjustable in respect to their supporting arms.

8. An improved concentrator of the pulsating jig type for separating intermixed materials of different specific gravities, comprising a station-v ary jig table having a foraminous bottom and a continuous peripheral tailings discharge edge, a feed for delivering centrally to said table the material to be separated, a chamber having an open end yieldably connected to said jig table and enclosing the under side thereof, a yieldable connection between said chamber and said table, means for delivering water to said table, means to move said chamber periodically in respect to said table, means comprising a scraper rotatable in a horizontal plane above said jig bottom to assist in moving the tailings of the material on the table towards the discharge edge thereof, and said scraper having its blade arranged at an angle to its direction of movement, the parts operating as and for the purpose described.

9. A structure such as defined in claim 8, wherein the scraper has its blade arranged at an angle to its direction of movement and said scraper is mounted to permit vertical adjustment and to permit adjustment of its angle of inclination in respect to its direction of travel.

10. An improved concentrator of the pulsating jig type, cdmprising a fixed foraminous jig table, a chamber positioned beneath said jig table and having an open upper end resiliently connected to said table, means for periodically raising and lowering said chamber in respect to the jig table, a feed for said table, a vertically disposed shaft, a series of arms operatively connected to said shaft and radially disposed in respect thereto for horizontal rotation above said jig table, a series of scrapers carried by said arms and having their blades arranged at an angle to their carrying arms and at an angle to their direction of movement for engaging the material on said jig table and moving said material outwardly towards the peripheral edge of said table to discharge, and means for rotating said shaft.

IRA B. HUNIPHREYS. 

